Anya Marina Bonds With Mormons Over Peeing Unicorns

Singer-songwriter Anya Marina is out on tour with the Virgins and Lissy Trullie, and sending Spinner her dispatches from the road. In the third installment, Marina finds a few Mormons who love peeing unicorns. Follow along on her excellent adventures.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Show No. 2: Salt Lake City, Kilby Court

Today finds me en route from Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Salt Lake City. I'm in danger of being late for a radio appearance in SLC, and have a six-hour drive of nothing but American landscape ahead of me. That's right: I forgot to pack CDs, my ipod doesn't plug into the stereo, there's no phone reception, the batteries are out on my Flip Cam, and when you hit "scan" on the radio, that's all it does: scan forever, never landing on a frequency. This is what we call the Boondocks. Just as I start getting down on Wyoming, I come upon the gorgeous "terrestrial weirdness" my friend Heather (from the band Eux Autres) has told me to look out for -- stark red bluffs layered with different colored sediments and strata, blue skies and wide plains forever and ever.

Today my chin bruise has flowered into a nice purple and grey mess. It looks like I'm making some kind of statement, so I opt against makeup and -- as Lissy Trullie encourages me -- I "just rock it." Luckily, I'm in no danger of repeating said guitar injury, as the Virgins' silky haired guitarist Wade MacGuyvered my strap problem with a "strap block." This tiny rubber contraption costs under a dollar and quite literally could've saved my face from a week of ugly bruising. (Note to accident-prone and vain musicians everywhere: invest in strapblocks!)

After my race to Salt Lake (averaging 80mph), I stop in at 101.9FM and go on air with DJ and fellow Twitter-addict Grant Ruby. We have one of those great times on air where when it's over, you can't remember what happened because it was like an actual conversation. I love those interviews. Afterwards, I drive to Kilby Court, a venue everyone tells me I will love. Sure enough, as I'm driving through the deserted streets and random alleys, I realize this is going to be a special gig. When I pull up at what looks like someone's yard, I get excited.

People who come this far out of there way are music lovers, and sure enough, the crowd is small but enthusiastic. I sell a bunch of CDs and am shocked by the attention the unicorn t-shirt gets. I guess Latter Day Saints love peeing unicorns and rainbows. Who knew?

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